


We didn't start the fire

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dragons, Drama, M/M, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 12:12:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1186071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin leads a double life. He's an animal handler at the zoo but actually, he's the head of DRACA, an organisation who retrieves dragon eggs, makes them hatch and puts them back in the wild when they're big enough to make it on their own. But he can't reveal this to his partner since Arthur hates dragons and isn't fond of anything magic. </p><p>When Merlin has to take an emergency home, things start to tumble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We didn't start the fire

**Author's Note:**

> The Oscar-speech. *grins*
> 
> First of all, thank you so much for organising the dragon big bang and all the hard work you put into it. It was so much fun to write for it.
> 
> Thanks to issy, who once again battled my odd grammar and my typos. Since I can be very stubborn, there still might be some mishaps in there. They are entirely my own and can't be blamed on her ;)
> 
> Of course I mustn't forget dear k_nightfox, who came up with the cool acronym for the dragon rescuing organisation! Thanks for that!
> 
> Thanks to tempy for the great logo!
> 
> Did I forget anything? As always, no copyright infringement intended and all that. 
> 
> Have fun reading!

Merlin ran through the bushes, his precious cargo clutched to his chest. He could still hear his pursuers behind him. His heart was hammering in his chest and he could hear the blood rush in his ears. He dodged a low hanging branch and cursed when a twig caught his forehead, but he didn’t have time to check if there was any damage. He should have brought a backpack, but since they’d had no information about how big the egg was, he figured he could just carry it. But then everything had gone wrong, starting with the CCTV that was – against the info they had got from their informant – definitely working to the blocked exit Merlin had planned on taking. 

“Right, keep right!” The voice in his ear yelled and he followed the order without thinking. Gwen would get him out of here. 

His hoodie got tangled in a branch and Merlin stumbled and nearly fell. But he managed to stay upright, the precious egg still held tightly against him.

“Just twenty meters and you should see him. You’re almost there!”

Despite Gwen trying to sound calm now, Merlin peeked over his shoulder. “Where are they?” He whispered.

“Far enough behind if you hurry. Don’t stop now, Will is right where he is supposed to be, you should see him any second.”

Merlin broke through the underbrush, happy that Will was indeed there and the engine was running. He jumped into the waiting car. “Go! Gogogogogogo!” 

Will hit the pedal and the car sped off while Merlin curled protectively around the fragile shell in his lap while he tried to catch his breath. 

+++

Only when they arrived in the large room on the second floor of a deserted factory building that they called their headquarters, they dared to pull their hoodies down and Merlin set the large orangey egg on a freshly prepared nest before he ripped the headset off. 

Gwen rushed in from the small room at the end of the loft that was packed with electronic equipment. “You’re back! And you’re injured!” Immediately she went to get the first aid kit and started to wipe the thin trail of blood off Merlin’s temple.

Grinning, Will went to the fridge and got himself a Coke. “Close call, as always. Our dear Merlin here took his sweet time.”

“It wasn’t as easy as you think. There were a lot more security measures than we knew about.” Merlin protested weakly, his eyes still fixed on the egg.

“You’re the one with magic, dude, it shouldn’t be difficult for you.” Will flomped down on the old shaggy couch and took a sip of his drink.

“They nearly got you.” Gwen put a hand on Merlin’s arm and looked at him worriedly. 

“They didn’t.” His eyes turned back to the egg and his expression grew soft. “Isn’t it a beauty?”

“How long had it been lying around in their laboratories?”

Shrugging, Merlin reached out and touched the tips of his fingers to the soft-looking shell. “Too long. There’s already movement inside. Let’s hope the chase hasn’t done it any harm. Come, be with us, Little golden sun.”

As soon as he said it, the shell showed first cracks. 

As Gwen clung to his arm, Merlin fought the urge to help the little one hatch. He knew the little creature had to make its way outside itself. But it was fascinating to watch each and every time. 

About ten minutes later, the little creature shook the last remnants of the shell off its head and looked around curiously. 

“Hey there, little one.”

Will groaned. “Will they ever talk back to you?”

“They do, and you know it,” Gwen scolded softly, but didn’t take her eyes off the baby dragon. 

Merlin smiled and reached his hand out. “Gwen and Will will take good care of you tonight.”

“It just shouldn’t dare to call me ‘momma’, tell it that.”

The baby dragon carefully sniffed Merlin’s fingers and then sneezed.

“’It’ is a she, Will.”

“And she already calls you momma? Perfect.” Will took another swig of his soda can and then burped.

Gwen smiled. “Don’t listen to him. Go home, he’s waiting for you and it’s later than planned.”

Pressing his lips to her temple, Merlin zipped his hoodie up again. “You’re right. Take good care of the little one.”

With one last smile at the dragonling, Merlin turned and left.

+++

Sneaking back into the house, Merlin tried not to make any noise. It was two o’clock in the morning and Arthur would be asleep. He would find a good excuse for being late. He went to the bathroom and stuffed his dirty clothes into the hamper. Just as he examined the scratch on his forehead, the lights went on.

“You’re late.” Arthur yawned and went over to the loo. 

“Yeah, sorry, took longer than expected.”

“You should have called.” Arthur’s eyes weren’t really open as he took a leak. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Merlin combed his long fringe over his forehead with his fingers and started to brush his teeth. With a bit of luck, Arthur would let it go.

But he came over to the sink to wash his hands. “What’s that?” He eyed Merlin’s face and then reached over to brush the hair back. 

“You’re injured!” Arthur sprang to full wakefulness. “How did that happen? We need to clean it so it doesn’t get infected.”

Merlin tried to turn his head away. “It’s nothing. There was a little twig in the way.” 

“You shouldn’t ride your bike in the dark.” Arthur rummaged through the cabinet in search for some disinfectant. 

Letting out a deep breath that he hadn’t even noticed he was holding, Merlin agreed. “You may be right.” He hissed when Arthur pushed him down onto the edge of the tub and insisted on dabbing some fluid on the scratch. “It’ll be okay.”

“Sure. But I can’t have the beauty of my boyfriend destroyed by nasty scars.”

“Oh, so this is about you? Being ashamed to be seen with me when I have a scar,” Merlin teased. Arthur had bought the bike-story, which was good. 

Arthur put a quick smooch on Merlin’s hair and put the tincture back into the cabinet. “I love you any way I can get you. Your looks are just an added bonus.”

“Let’s go to bed. You have that meeting in the morning, you need your sleep.” Merlin reached for a t-shirt and pulled it over his head before he followed Arthur to the bedroom.

“When does your shift at the zoo start?” Arthur yawned as he climbed back under the cover.

“Around eleven, they’ll call.” Merlin didn’t look at Arthur. 

One day he would find a way to tell Arthur what he was really doing.

++++

Padding out of the bedroom, Merlin yawned and scratched at his chest. Arthur was already up and busy having breakfast, he needed to be at a meeting at nine. 

“Morning.”

“Morning, Merlin. Here, have some tea.”

While Merlin poured himself a cup and then sat down at the table, one foot under him, Arthur switched on the TV.

 _A spokesman has confirmed that last night, the laboratories of MagSys were broken into. It seems that a precious dragon egg has been stolen from the high security labs_ A bloke who was too young for the stern look he tried to muster, explained. 

_Of course, in everything that is connected to thefts of magic animals, D.R.A.C.A. is the number one suspect. The way the break-in was executed shows their finger print. But nothing has been confirmed so far by the police._

Merlin feigned disinterest but his heart was beating wildly. There he was, on the screen, running down a corridor. At least his face was covered by his hood.

“I wish they finally caught those terrorists,” Arthur bit into his toast. “Every few weeks we get the same reports. They broke in, destroyed property, stole something and they never get caught. They must leave some sort of trace!”

“Obviously, they’re good enough to not do that.” Merlin buried his nose in his tea cup and tried not to squirm. How could Arthur have missed that it was him on that short clip from the CCTV?

“They get lazy. I mean, look at that bloke. Yes, he’s running, but he is clearly visible on the tape. I give them…oh, maybe two more thefts before the handcuffs click.”

Merlin was relieved when Arthur switched channels to check the latest reports from the stock exchange. He needed to talk to the others as soon as Arthur left the house.

+++

“Coming over now, Gwen.” Merlin rode his bike down the dirt road towards the DRACA headquarters, while he was on the phone. “In fact, I’m already here.” He ended the call as he jumped off his bike and opened the door. 

“Good thing you’re here. Fritzi over there refuses to eat anything.” Gwen came from the make-shift kitchen area.

“Fritzi?” Merlin threw Will a look.

Will, who seemed to be busy checking some of their equipment, just shrugged. “You always give them complicated names that not even the ancient Greeks could have pronounced properly.”

“Her name is _Little Golden Sun_ , you couldn’t have called her ‘Sunny’ or something?” Merlin rolled his eyes and walked over to where the dragonling had curled up on one of his old t-shirts. 

“She doesn’t seem to be the sunny kind, so Fritzi it is.” Will grinned and went back to checking their headphones.

Shaking his head, Merlin turned towards the dragon again. He wondered what was wrong with her. Usually, when they rescued dragon eggs from companies who claimed to have them ‘for science purposes’, the dragons hatched here at the headquarters when he called them. None of them ever decided it was time to show themselves at sterile laboratories with people in white lab coats who just saw them as an object for research rather than a living, breathing creature. 

When Merlin had found out that he didn’t just have magic but was also the last Dragonlord, he had taken it upon himself to rescue those precious rare eggs and get them back into the wild. Of course he couldn’t just leave the freshly hatched dragonlings out in the woods. But taking them back home was a bad idea, too. So, after Gwen and Will had joined, they had found these buildings which were perfect for their needs and raised the dragons until they were old enough to be returned to the wild. 

Gwen had proven to be a genius when it came to computers and other technical stuff and Will had a quick mouth and was the meanest driver on Britain’s streets, so he could talk them out of trouble or just win any race. 

They had come up with a cool name, too. “Dragon Rescue and Conservation Alliance” or D.R.A.C.A. Not that Merlin cared too much about coolness. He cared about the dragons. 

So he approached the little orange one, that wasn’t bigger than a baby cat. “Hey there, Sun.”

The little creature lifted its head and jumped to her feet when she heard Merlin’s voice. 

“What’s that Gwen’s telling me? You won’t eat? We can’t have that.” Merlin sat down next to the little nest and held out his hand.

The dragon happily came over and tried to climb on Merlin’s lap clumsily, flapping her little wings experimentally. 

“There you go.” Merlin smiled as he helped Golden Sun up. “And now you’ll eat something, okay?” He reached for the plate with chopped meat that Gwen, who watched the scene, held out to him. 

“Doesn’t that smell interesting?” 

The dragonling sniffed the meat and then looked at Merlin. 

“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know what to do with it!” He reached for a bit of the meat.

“Maybe she’s a vegetarian dragon?” Gwen offered.

Merlin threw her a look. “Not her kind. And see,” he grinned as the little orange one started to munch, “this one definitely isn’t a vegetarian.”

After a while, the little dragon had a round belly and refused to eat any more. 

“Are you going to carry Fritzi around and pat her back until she burped before you read her a story?” Will grinned widely and despite his mocking, Merlin knew that he didn’t mean it like that. Even though Will always acted as if he was just in it to do Merlin a favor, Merlin knew exactly that he cared about the dragons just as much as the rest of them. 

“Stop calling her Fritzi!” Merlin chuckled as he put the dragon back in her nest, skritched her head with his index finger and then got up. 

“It’s her name from now on. You know, like those race horses. They have fancy names like ‘A letter to Harry’ or ‘The Prince’s Pride’ and those who handle them call them George or Tony. She can be all the suns she wants, her name is Fritzi.” Will laughed.

Shaking his head, Merlin opened the door to where they had one other dragon, that went by the name of Blue Observer and already had a watchful eye on Merlin as he came in. 

He talked to the dragon for a moment, making sure he was alright. Blue was a totally different breed than Frit…Sun. For the untrained eye, they might have looked the same in shape and form. But Blue actually wasn’t old enough to be out in the forests on his own and already was the size of a full-grown rhino. They would have to find a dragon who was willing to train the dragon-equivalent of a teenager soon.

He knew he needed to discuss this with Gwen and Will and probably Gwaine, who was abroad now, checking out info they had received. But for now, he needed to get home. With a bit of luck, Arthur would not be there yet. 

+++

 

“Oh, come on, you can’t really mean that, Owain!”

“Why not?” Owain sipped his drink. “They’re just animals, like all the others.”

Arthur huffed. “Huge brutal creatures that breathe fire on everything in sight and that can stomp on you just like that.”

“There are animals that are much more dangerous. There’s poisonous snakes and spiders, there’s lions and tigers, rhinos, crocodiles and icky insects.”

“But there’s magic involved.” Arthur leaned back, crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at his friend.

Owain shook his head. “You never had something against magic and magic users before. Why now? What did it do to you?”

“It didn’t do anything to me. I don’t care about magic, it’s…it’s just there. Not saying that it’s okay, but it’s there. It shouldn’t be used, though. I mean, is it fair to have such an unnatural advantage?”

“Are we discussing magic or dragons now?”

“Isn’t it the same? Without magic, there wouldn’t be those pesky dragons. Did you hear that they burnt down a house somewhere up north?”

“Without magic, nobody could keep the dragons in check. It’s good that there are magic users. And ‘a house up north’? That’s like…a friend of a cousin of my co-worker’s niece…” Owain shook his head.

Arthur sighed. “Yeah, but why save the dragons? I mean…there are so many other species going extinct that are so much more important to the eco system. Like…I mean…save the polar bears. At least they are cuddly!”

Taking another sip of his drink, Owain again shook his head. “You know that polar bears aren’t cuddly. They’re predators.”

“So are dragons. And they are all scaly and ugly.”

“So you’re saying that only animals that are easy on the eye are worth saving?”

“No, but…just not those magic dragons. They are evil, they destroy things, they threaten whole communities.”

Owain listened to Arthur’s rant, not sure if he really meant it or if it was just the alcohol speaking. But he didn’t like Arthur’s views on dragons and the ‘terrorists’ of D.R.A.C.A. He didn’t like that they broke in and stole the eggs, that they hid their operation and nobody knew who they really were, but he admired their courage and that finally someone did something to save the dragons. 

“They should all be arrested, that’s what should happen! And one day, they’ll make a mistake and will be caught. Mark my words!” Arthur put his beer bottle down really hard and Owain just nodded unhappily.

+++

“Thanks, Merlin.” Elyan Smith nodded. “I doubt we could have done it without you. The little zebra just wouldn’t calm down.”

Merlin smiled and gently stroked the animal’s nose. The more the zoo veterinarian had tried to sedate it to examine the deep cut on its flank, the more the zebra had fought and refused to succumb. 

His magic was an open secret amongst the zoo workers, so they had called him over from where he was busy with his Saurians. It was quite a bit different to try to make a zebra calm down than talking to dragons. Even though Gwen usually praised his ability to talk to animals, he wasn’t able to really talk to all of them, just dragons and their cousins. With all other animals, he had to try to reach them through magic. And this little zebra was a fighter. But finally, he had managed to convince it that they didn’t mean harm so Elyan could examine and treat the wound.

“Do you think you could do without me now?” Merlin felt his mobile in his pocket vibrate.

“I think so, yes. He’ll wake up soon anyway.” Elyan was about to pack his bag. “Maybe you could check on him a bit later in the day? To convince him that we didn’t harm him?” Winking, Elyan took his rubber gloves off and got up.

Nodding, Merlin promised. “Will do. If he listens to me.” He was already half out of the box as he reached for his mobile.

“Gwen?” Something must have happened. Gwen never called him unless it was an emergency and they had to react immediately. Even though the building was protected with heavy spells, there was always a chance that someone stumbled in upon them accidentally. Or some other magic user discovered their hideaway.

“Merlin, come here. Fast. Fritzi is totally acting up. She breathed fire on Will!”

“Is he alright?” Merlin ran into his office, which was more of a zoo kitchen and gestured to Gilli that he needed to leave as he grabbed his hoodie.

Gilli just nodded, he was used to Merlin running out and covered for him as best as possible.

“His arm looks bad, but he doesn’t want me to get him to a doctor. And Fritzi won’t let us out of the building anyway. Come here, now!”

+++

“Merlin!”

Merlin ducked when he heard the yell, having walked in to the chaos that was their common room at the headquarters. The little orange dragon almost crashed into him before making a not-so-elegant turn and going after Will.

“Make her go away!” Will batted at the dragon as if it were a nasty fly. “Cut that out, Fritzi!”

Any other time, Merlin would have laughed at the scene, but when the little dragon coughed and then breathed fire at Will again, he knew this wasn’t the time to joke. “Sun!”

Patting at his sweater to extinguish the flames, Will cursed. “Damn creature! Fucking stupid dragon! This fucking hurts, you stupid cow!”

Gwen tried to catch Sun, but even though her flying skills were still new and not very practiced yet, the little dragon escaped every time Gwen reached for her. 

“Throw this beast out! Man, that burn hurts! Take her to the wild, let her starve like all the others. Owwwwwwwww!” 

Giving up the chase, Gwen grabbed Will’s elbow and led him to the kitchenette to put his hurt arm in cold water. “Merlin, do something.”

But Merlin didn’t even hear or see them anymore. When he noticed that Gwen was taking care of Will’s injuries, he focused on the dragon, talking to her in the old language, trying to calm her down. 

“What’s wrong, little one? What did he do to you? You know he means no harm. He just doesn’t know how to handle dragons very well.”

Fritzi crash-landed on the couch and scrambled up like she meant to do this. 

At least all the fluttering had stopped now. 

Merlin almost smiled when he watched her trying to fold her little wings gracefully, which wasn’t really possible since she still had to grow into them.

“I need to go look at what you did to Will and help him, okay? “ Carefully, he backed away and then turned. “Is it very bad, Will?”

“That fucking stupid bitch breathed fire on me! Just like that! I only tried to pat her! They all like that, just not your precious orange princess!” Another stream of curse words flew out of Will’s mouth when Merlin examined his arm and only ceased when he whispered a healing charm and they all watched the wound disappear.

Examining his arm, which looked as if nothing had ever happened, Will just frowned. 

“Come on, I’ll make you a sandwich.” Gwen opened the fridge.

“As if that would change anything.” But Will followed her willingly, his stomach winning over his anger.

Merlin returned to the couch where Fritzi still sat, throwing him evil looks. 

“He didn’t mean you any harm. He just wanted to pet you. You usually like when I do that, don’t you?”

His eyebrow rose higher and higher when the little dragon padded over, climbed onto his lap and rubbed its head against him. Carefully, he stroked her tiny scales and after a while, she just laid her head against his belly, closed her eyes and blew happy little puffs of smoke. 

Never ever had he encountered such behavior. Dragons of all ages, shapes and sizes always paid him respect. He was a Dragonlord after all. Some bold ones even came to sit on his shoulder when they were still small enough. But none of them ever…snuggled? Yeah, that’s exactly what Fritzi was doing. 

With a sandwich in hand, Will came over. He took a healthy bite and watched the scene before him for a moment. “You know,” he said between bites, “I don’t know dragontongue, but I’m sure that sound Fritzi just made meant ‘Momma’.” 

+++

 

As Merlin padded back into the bedroom, a towel around his waist, Arthur sat up in bed.

“You know, I’ve been thinking.”

Merlin smiled. Arthur was just too cute in the morning, his hair all over the place, his eyes not really open and usually he wasn’t even capable of forming coherent sentences before he had his second cup of coffee. “Oh, have you?”

“Yes, Mr. Emrys, once in a while even I do some thinking.”

Frowning since Arthur was too wide awake for this time of day, Merlin rummaged in his drawer to find a pair of boxerbriefs. 

“I need to go to Vienna for a couple of days. How about you come along?”

Straightening up, the undies in his hand forgotten, Merlin turned and looked at Arthur. “You’ve never taken me on one of your trips before, why now?” Arthur wasn’t the most romantic of boyfriends, so it was a bit strange that he suggested this now. Merlin had always wanted to go to Vienna, someone must have clued Arthur in. 

Shrugging, Arthur grinned disarmingly. “A small bird told me that you would like to see the castles there, that park, what’s it called? – and that they do have a famous zoo.”

That was one of the things Merlin loved about Arthur – the way he easily admitted that things like these weren’t his own idea. Merlin smiled and crawled back onto the bed. “But it’s work for you?”

“Unfortunately, yes. But you could go castle-watching and animal-admiring during the day and when I’m done we could do all the romantic dinners and walks and other stuff you love so much.” Arthur still smiled but looked at Merlin curiously.

Merlin leaned in and put a peck on the tip of Arthur’s nose. “I’d very much like that. Thanks, Arthur.”

Wrapping his arms around Merlin’s shoulder and pulling him close, Arthur laughed. “That’s all I get? ‘I’d like that very much, thanks, Arthur’?”

Merlin tried not to chuckle and give Arthur his most innocent look. “What else did you expect?” 

“Oh, how about some glorious I-love-you-very-much-and-I’m-insanely-happy-that-I-get-to-go-to-Vienna morning sex?” Arthur laughed.

Grinning, Merlin already started to kiss down Arthur’s neck. For that last remark, he would tease Arthur’s sensitive nipples mercilessly before giving him what he wanted – a blowjob to remember.

 

+++  
Merlin had a really good time in Vienna. Everything was so different. When people spoke, it sounded funny to him and he enjoyed the pace in the coffee houses where time seemed to be standing still and where he ate some of the most delicious cakes he’d ever had in his entire life.

That Arthur was busy during the day, suited Merlin well. Shortly before they had left, D.R.A.C.A. had gotten word that there was a dragon egg being held hostage in some laboratory on the outskirts of Vienna. Gwaine, who was travelling the world to scout these things out, wasn’t sure where it had come from, but rumors had it that it might be from Hungary or the Czech Republic. Merlin didn’t care, it was a dragon egg and it was his duty to save it. 

He had made plans on how to get to it, studying the sketches of the floor plan that Gwaine had sent. When Arthur had to cancel their dinner plans as negotiations would take longer than he had thought, Merlin phoned Gwaine up and they decided to go through with their mission that night. 

Security measures had been almost too easy to overcome and Merlin had managed to get out of the premises before the alarm had even started to sound. When he was sure that nobody had followed him, he exchanged his black beanie for a baseball hat and his black hoodie for a plaid shirt with a jacket over it. He stuffed his mostly black things deep inside his backpack and took the camera out before he slowly wandered to the city center. 

Merlin was trying to look like every other tourist, turning the baseball cap around when he lifted the camera to take a photo or two, and eyes wide as he walked through the nightly Vienna. He hoped that his body warmth was enough to keep the dragon inside its egg happy. This one was only about as big as a normal chicken egg, but the pattern on the shell gave it away. Merlin couldn’t keep the smile off his face. This one was special, they’d never had a Romanian Roaster before. 

As Merlin rounded the corner, Gwaine was there, right where he was supposed to be, studying the guidebook he was holding. 

“Excuse me, Sir?”

Too bad they had to pretend to be two strangers, just talking about the city and where to find certain sights, Merlin hadn’t seen his friend in quite a while. He hoped they would have more time once they were back in England and once the little dragon was safe and sound in their HQ. 

So they both bent their heads over the map and Merlin let the dragon egg slip into the pocket of Gwaine’s coat. They nodded at each other and parted ways. Anybody who wasn’t watching them too closely would not have noticed the exchange.

+++

“Where have you been?” Arthur had just taken a shower and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt when Merlin entered their suite. 

He set his camera down and put the backpack on the floor. “For a walk. You should have come along, it’s quite cold already, but beautiful.”

“You should have left a message, I was worried when you didn’t answer your mobile.” Arthur came over and picked the camera up, going through the pictures Merlin had taken on his way back. “If we have time later, you could show me all these things? I really could use a bit of fresh air after being stuck in that conference room all day long.”

Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck. On a whim he had taken a couple of more or less good shots of nicely lit buildings and the streets of Vienna at night. Never had he thought that Arthur would check them, so his heart was beating wildly when he reached for the camera. “Yeah, we could do that.” He nuzzled into Arthur’s neck, pressing against him. These were the times he hated his double life. But as long as D.R.A.C.A. had to stay a hidden operation, he couldn’t tell Arthur about it, no matter how much he hated lying to him. 

Immediately, Arthur’s hands were on Merlin’s back, caressing him through the thick layers of fabric, trying to find a way underneath the arrangement of t-shirts, shirts and hoodie. “Do you need to be warmed up?”

Merlin nibbled on Arthur’s earlobe. “Aren’t you too tired from your meetings?”

“Never too tired for that.” Arthur moaned when Merlin found that sensitive spot underneath his ear and cursed when there was a knock at the door. “Hold that thought.” He went and opened to let in room service, who brought them a luxurious dinner. 

Arthur laughed when he saw Merlin’s eyes flitting back and forth between him and the food. “You haven’t eaten since breakfast, have you?”

Biting his lower lip, Merlin made a face. “There was so much to see that I forgot.” Which wasn’t even a lie, he had wandered through the city all day long, looking at the beautiful buildings, taking lots of photos and then he had to go rescue a precious creature. Food had been secondary. 

“Let’s eat first.” Arthur winked. 

+++

 

Merlin stretched and then snuggled back underneath the soft duvet. He hadn’t slept that well in ages. The nights before, he had woken up more than once, thinking about the egg that they were about to rescue. Last night, while Arthur had been in the bathroom, Merlin had gotten the message that Gwaine was back in England and the egg was safely tucked away in a nest at the headquarters. 

“Shhhh.”

Merlin blinked. “Huh?”

“It’s too early, this is vacation for you.” Arthur whispered and pressed a kiss on Merlin’s forehead.

“Do you have to get up already?” Merlin reached over and pulled Arthur close.

“Almost.”

Running his hand down Arthur’s chest, Merlin smirked. “Not even enough time for a quickie? You could think of it during those boring meetings and keep you entertained?” he asked in his most casual voice.

Arthur growled and turned. “How often did you come last night? Twice? And it’s still not enough? I should check your background, most likely you’re just a hired hitman who gets paid to kill me.”

Merlin chuckled. “Yeah, Evil Emrys, that’s what they call me and now you found me out.” And then he was silenced by Arthur’s lips on his.

He kissed back just as enthusiastically, his body waking up fully, his morning erection getting even harder. Merlin shivered when Arthur’s hand slid down his side. Of course he found all the ticklish spots, but managed to caress them in a way that left Merlin breathless. “Arthur…”

Arthur pulled back and grinned. “Yes, Merlin?”

“Fuck me already.” Merlin grabbed at Arthur’s hair, pulled his head back and attacked his throat with kisses.

“Impatient, are we? I still have about an hour before I have to leave.”

Merlin groaned. That meant that Arthur planned to take his time driving him insane.

Nibbling on Merlin’s neck, Arthur’s hand roamed over Merlin’s heated skin, deliberately avoiding where Merlin needed to feel it the most. Merlin could feel Arthur’s lips stretching into a smile when his fingers brushed the insides of his thighs, but never touched his balls or dick. 

“Come on,” he whined and arched into the touches.

“The more you’ll try to rush me,” Arthur whispered against Merlin’s collarbone, “the longer it will take.”

Pushing his head back into the pillow, Merlin moaned. “You’ll miss your meeting.” He knew there was no rushing Arthur when he set his mind on going slow.

“Screw the meeting.” Licking across Merlin’s nipple and teasing the other with his fingers, Arthur took his sweet time.

“Screw _me_. Now!” Merlin dug his fingers into Arthur’s hair and tried to guide him down. As much as he liked having his nipples played with, he needed something, anything, on his dick. 

It seemed to take forever and Merlin melted into a puddle while at the same time being wired and on the edge as Arthur slowly licked and nibbled his way down his body, taking time to explore all the spots he knew were sensitive before he finally, finally!, wrapped his lips around Merlin’s cock. 

“Yeah…” Breathlessly, Merlin tried not to move, even though he wanted nothing more than to thrust up into the wet heat. Knowing that Arthur didn’t like when he dug his fingers in his hair while he gave him a blowjob, Merlin’s hands scrambled across the sheets helplessly, searching for something to hold on to.

Arthur knew no mercy. Once set on the task, he teased Merlin to the edge only to pull back and press kisses on his groin before going back to what he was doing before. 

“Arth…” Merlin was close again. If Arthur didn’t give him what he needed now, he would go insane. 

But Arthur felt that Merlin wouldn’t be able to hold back this time and began to suck in earnest now. 

Merlin yelled out as he came. Damn Arthur. When they first met, Arthur’s blowjobs had been shy and tickled. There were too many teeth and not enough suction. Now he was an expert and Merlin just lay there, trying to get his breath back, making the stars that danced through his vision go away. 

He hardly noticed that Arthur started to prepare him and just groaned when he pushed in. 

“Ragdoll,” Arthur murmured affectionately, loving that he could make Merlin go all limp.

His legs hoisted over Arthur’s shoulders, Merlin slowly started to move. He was worn out and could easily have slipped back into sleep, but Arthur’s dick inside him was just at the right angle, he couldn’t not move, he needed to move and even though he doubted that he could come again so soon, he wanted it to be good for Arthur. 

After a while of lazy fucking, Arthur sped up and Merlin noticed his own erection returning. He reached for it, but Arthur grunted. “Don’t.”

The chuckle died in Merlin’s throat when Arthur pounded into his spot. He loved when Arthur took over like that and gave orders. It was hard to follow them, but if Arthur kept this up, Merlin was sure he would be able to come again, untouched. 

Arthur scrambled up a bit further, grabbing Merlin’s thigh and hip and with a few last thrusts, he spilled deep inside Merlin, who felt all of his lower body tighten around Arthur, squeezing his orgasm out of him before letting go and climaxing, too.

Merlin didn’t even remember when Arthur slumped onto him, but he enjoyed the feeling of having him on top of his body, all sweaty, breathing hard, slowly coming down from their shared high. He whimpered when Arthur finally pulled out.

“You know I love that little sound you make when I do that.” Arthur leaned in and brushed his lips against Merlin’s.

“I love you.”

Smiling, Arthur deepened the kiss before he pulled back and got up to get ready for his meeting. 

+++

Because he got constant updates from Gwen, Merlin was able to relax. There were only two days left of his vacation and Arthur had promised that the last day would be just for them – no meetings, no telephone conferences, no business. Merlin already made a plan as to which places he wanted to show Arthur and hoped for a really romantic dinner as a fitting ending to their time in Austria.

He smiled at the tickets for the huge Ferris wheel at the Prater that he wanted to surprise Arthur with when his mobile rang.

“I’m so sorry to do this,” came Gwen’s concerned voice down the line. “But I think this is an emergency.”

Alarmed, Merlin threw looks around him. “What is it?”

“It’s the thing you got.” The egg, there was something wrong with the dragon!

“It’s not okay?” Merlin felt panic crawl up his spine. They had never lost a dragon before. Then again, he had never not accompanied any new addition to the headquarters to help it hatch immediately. 

“No. Merlin, I think it’s dying!” He could hear Gwen suppressing a sob. 

Dying? No! This couldn’t be! “Tell me exactly what it does.”

“Nothing at all.”

“But that’s good. They can stay like that for hundreds of years until called by a Dr…someone like, you know.” But even that knowledge didn’t comfort him. Gwen wouldn’t call if there wasn’t something serious going on.

“The thing inside does nothing at all. But the sh…the outside changes color. And it doesn’t look healthy. Will did a lot of research. It shouldn’t turn a blue-ish black. What are we going to do, Merlin?”

If Gwen sounded that desperate, Merlin had to react. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and already dialed the number of the air line. He needed to get back to London as soon as possible.

When Arthur arrived, Merlin was already packing his bag.

“Merlin? What does this mean?”

“I have to go home. Emergency at the zoo.” Merlin was happy that he didn’t need to look at Arthur. Usually, he could bend the truth just a little bit. But this was a big fat lie and he didn’t want to look him in the eyes while he was doing it.

Arthur set his bag down and took his coat off. “What happened?”

What happened? What happened? “The little zebra I told you about? He’s not really well and they need me there.” Merlin stuffed his toiletries into the bag and struggled with the zipper.

“And they don’t have anyone else who can do this?” Arthur tried to wrap his arms around him, but Merlin turned out of the embrace. 

“No, they don’t. It’s really serious. I’ve already rearranged my flight. I’m sorry, Arthur, but…” He was, he really was sorry. He had been looking forward to spending this time with Arthur. And he was sorry for lying so blatantly, wondering when it had become so easy.

Arthur pulled him into a hug anyway. “Don’t worry. I know how much you love those creatures. If you’re the only one who can make the zebra boy well again…,” he nuzzled into Merlin’s neck before pulling back. “You know, I’ll never understand your field of work, but I know you have special talents. You’re needed there.” He nodded. “Did you already call a taxi?”

The moment Merlin slid into his seat, he didn’t even try to hold the tears back. He didn’t deserve a boyfriend like Arthur. Yes, he was a bit on the too self-confident side sometimes, he could be down-right prat. He was a tough business man and could make grown men cry with his negotiation skills. But he was loving and supporting, too. If Merlin’s hasty departure made him wonder, he hadn’t said one word about it. He trusted him. Merlin knew he didn’t deserve this trust. One day. One day he would be able to tell Arthur the truth. 

+++

Gilli was just removing the last dry twigs from the iguanas’ territory, humming to himself, when he noticed a visitor. “Good afternoon, Sir.”

“Hi. My name is Arthur Pendragon and I’m here to see Merlin Emrys.”

Swallowing, Gilli bent down to pick some things up and put them into his pushcart. Hoisting up the shovel, he deliberately didn’t look at the man. Arthur, so this was Arthur, Arthur Pendragon, Merlin’s Arthur. The Arthur they never expected to see at the zoo. Especially not unannounced. Especially not when Merlin wasn’t around. “Do you have an appointment?”

Arthur smiled and Gilli could see what Merlin saw in him. While he seemed to be made of steel in his tailored suit and blue coat, his face softened when he smiled.

“No,” Arthur chuckled. “I didn’t think I needed an appointment to surprise my partner.” 

“Oh, so you’re _that_ Arthur!” Gilli put some crickets into one of the tanks and watched as the reptilians slowly came closer as they smelled their food.

“I believe I said so, yes. So…is Merlin here?”

Shaking his head, Gilli turned back to Arthur after closing the glass door. This was the situation Merlin had tried to train with him for a while now. He wasn’t a good liar, but Gilli knew that Merlin’s boyfriend had no idea that Merlin was the head of D.R.A.C.A. and that this job at the zoo was just a diversion. “I’m sorry, he got called away to a meeting.”

Arthur looked around. “And when will he be back? Can I wait?”

“I really don’t know,” Gilli started to fidget with the container that held the crickets. “I’m not even sure if he’s at the HQ here or if they went to Bristol, he didn’t say, but I heard something like that.” He knew he was babbling and that was dangerous. He would say things he couldn’t remember later and that could get Merlin into trouble. 

Taking a deep breath, Arthur gave Gilli an apologetic smile. “Bad timing on my side, I reckon.”

“Yeah, seems so. But if you want to, I can show you around, explain the different reptiles we have here and…” That was familiar territory, he could talk about their animals forever.

“No thanks,” Arthur interrupted him. “But could you point me to the zebras, please?”

Gilli watched Arthur putting his fine leather gloves on as he walked in the indicated direction, his mind whirling. Should he give Merlin a call? 

+++

Merlin yawned widely as he entered the house. All he wanted was a long hot shower and a good night’s sleep. It had taken him a few nights to convince the dragon mother to adopt a dragonling that wasn’t hers. Dragons usually didn’t do that. But Merlin explained how important it was to show the little dragon how to go about this world, so he wouldn’t be caught by humans who didn’t mean well. After some tough negotiations, she had agreed on keeping an eye on him and tonight, they had taken Blue to meet her. 

Which had been a master piece in itself. How do you transport a dragon the size of a rhino without being noticed? Due to Will’s driving skills, they had managed and Will had watched how Merlin talked to the dragons and only came back when momma dragon had given Blue a nudge in the side that had only earned her a dirty look from the young dragon, not the anticipated attack. 

“Is that zoo of yours so poor now that they couldn’t spare any water for you to shower there?” Arthur came from his office and looked him up and down.

Merlin could barely stop himself from groaning. He had hoped that Arthur would have fallen asleep in front of the TV or something, so he could sneak in and snuggle up to him after taking a shower. He managed a tortured smile. “I was just too tired.”

“You know, for a facility that charges twenty pounds per ticket, I thought they would treat their employees a bit better.”

“They do.” How on earth did Arthur know what the tickets to the zoo cost? He’d never been there before. “I just prefer to shower at home, so I could get into fresh clothes and not have to change again once I’m here.”

“Need help?” Arthur came over and leaned close. “I could wash your back?”

Merlin held his breath. The negotiations with dragon mom had not only been tough, he had to find her in the underbrush and had to show to her that he indeed was the Dragonlord, which had left scratches and a few bruises on his back. He faked a yawn. “I’m really tired, Arthur.”

Arthur smirked. “Well, then either I’ll wake you up again and you’ll be all into the…’washing’…or I’ll relax you so much that you will fall asleep later in no time.”

“I’d much rather just snuggle up to you in bed after a long hot shower.” Merlin kicked his shoes off and discarded the muddy jeans in the hamper. 

When Arthur stepped close and pressed against him from behind, Merlin hissed and flinched away. Immediately, Arthur let go. “What’s wrong?” His fingers were already on Merlin’s shirt and he gasped when he saw Merlin’s back. “What the fuck happened?”

Merlin tried to squirm away. “Nothing.”

“If you call that ‘nothing’, I don’t want to see what it looks like when there is ‘something’.”

“We brought in that new animal and the adult one wasn’t really pleased with this new addition.” Merlin closed his eyes. It wasn’t really a lie, was it?

Arthur took a forced breath. “And they can’t get you to a doctor?” He opened the cabinet and rummaged through their stuff.

“I didn’t want to go. Let it go, Arthur, it’s not that bad. I’ll take a hot shower and then curl up and I’ll be fine in the morning.” Merlin got the water running but still hadn’t taken off his shirt completely; he wanted Arthur to leave before he did that.

Setting down the bottle of tincture he had found in the cabinet, Arthur set his jaw. “If you need help putting this on, let me know.”

Merlin felt sick when Arthur left the bathroom. He so wanted him to know what he was actually doing. He wanted him to be proud of him. He needed him to see that he was more than a lowly animal-handler at the local zoo, that the reptilians he was dealing with were so much more. He longed to show Arthur his magic. But he knew that Arthur wasn’t too fond of anything magical and hated dragons. How would he ever be able to show him his line of work and expect acceptance?

As he stood under the spray, the hot water soothing his muscles but stinging the scraped skin, he let his tears run freely.

That night, for the first time since they’ve moved in together, Arthur slept with his back to Merlin, who – even though he was exhausted – couldn’t fall asleep until the early hours of morning.

+++

“You can’t do that, Merlin!” Gwen looked at him with concern in her big brown eyes. 

Taking a deep breath, Merlin shook his head and looked up from where he was examining Fritzi’s wing. Gwen had tried to put some salve on a little skin irritation and the little dragon had freaked completely, fluttering about, breathing fire on Gwen and had crashed into a lamp, thereby hurting herself. “I don’t see any other solution to this. She doesn’t want to stay with the other dragons, she’s too small to be released into the wild, she hates Will and barely tolerates you. I don’t want you guys to be in danger while I’m not here.”

The little dragon, which was the size of a medium-sized dog now, had sat down on Merlin’s foot and rubbed her head against Merlin’s leg, looking like the most innocent creature on the planet. 

“You’re her hero, Merlin, I know.” Gwen examined her finger that Merlin just healed after Fritzi breathed fire on it. “But you can’t risk everything.”

Merlin knew it was crazy. It was madness to take the dragon home and keep it in the basement until she calmed down and could be released. 

“Merlin,” Gwen put her hand on Merlin’s arm, “Arthur will kill you if he finds out. It’s dangerous enough that you go out to acquire the eggs. It’s more than dangerous going out there and convincing dragons to adopt young ones that aren’t theirs. But…”

He knew she was right. Merlin hung his head and sighed. “I so hate lying to him. Even though it gets easier, it does get harder.”

Pulling him over to the couch, Gwen got them some tea. The little orange dragon followed and watched her every move suspiciously. 

“It’s okay, Sunny.” Merlin petted her head when she perked up and glared as Gwen handed him a cup.

“Spill.” Gwen busied herself with adding sugar to her tea and stirring it so often that Merlin assumed she did it to get the tea dizzy.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. “Sometimes I’m scared of how easily the lies flow over my lips. I don’t have to think about them anymore. They just come naturally. No sped up heartbeat, no sweating, just lies.”

Gwen just listened.

“You know, I even told him that the little zebra boy died when we lost the Roaster. I hate myself more and more for it. I don’t want to lie to him, Gwen.”

“I know, love. And that’s why you shouldn’t take Fritzi home. What happens if he finds her?”

“He won’t.” Merlin shook his head. “He can’t. I’ll be careful. I promise.”

Knowing she already lost the argument before they even started, Gwen sighed. 

“Just until her wing is healed; I’ll bring her back as soon as she’s okay again.”

Gwen leaned her head against his shoulder and said nothing. 

+++

It was Merlin’s first Sunday off in ages. Usually, he was at the zoo, explaining the reptilians to the visitors or he was off on rescue missions. Even though he knew it was dangerous to keep Fri…Sunny in the house, he stretched and then snuggled back against Arthur. He was more relaxed than in a long time, which might have been a result of the fantastic sex they’d had the night before. Or he was just still too sleepy; he couldn’t tell and didn’t really care either. 

“Hey,” he murmured when Arthur slowly blinked awake. 

“Mrng.” Arthur just grunted and closed his eyes again. After a while, he said “I’ve had the strangest dream last night.”

“Oh? Was I in it? Was I sexy?” Merlin drew patterns on Arthur’s chest with the tips of his fingers.

“Yeah,” Arthur wiggled slightly, the touch tickled. “You and some of those dragons.”

Merlin was fully awake within seconds. “Dragons? ‘Those’ dragons?”

“Yeah, you know. Dragons. Those evil scaly creatures that trample people and burn down houses.”

“That’s not what they do. They’re just normal animals, too.” Merlin didn’t look at Arthur.

“Didn’t you read the papers lately? In Cardiff, they attacked people! This has to end!”

“In Cardiff.” Merlin hadn’t heard of the incident and he was sure that Will would have informed him if anything like that had turned up on reliable channels. They would have gone and investigated right away and intervened; he would have talked to the dragons before they could do more than scare someone. 

“Yeah, it was in the paper.” Arthur insisted. 

Slightly shaking his head, Merlin looked up at Arthur. “You should come to the zoo, look at what I work with. The lizards, the bearded dragons, the iguanas…they’re all basically little brothers to the big dragons. They’re very nice and no danger at all.”

“That’s because they are so small and can be smashed with a shovel.”

“Arthur!” Merlin pulled back and sat up. “You don’t mean that!”

“Couldn’t you have found better animals to work with? And dragons are not at all like your reptiles. They’re dangerous! It’s like comparing a kitten with a tiger.”

“It is not! You just have to know how to handle them.”

“You’ve got to be kidding, Merlin.” Arthur sat up, too, and just stared at Merlin. “It’s not like anyone can really handle dragons! Everyone who escaped an encounter can be very happy that they are still alive!”

Merlin crossed his arms in front of his chest. Maybe this was the moment to confess that he could indeed talk to dragons, that they obeyed his orders, that they had to bow to his will? But Arthur was still too far from even tolerating their existence. “How many people have you heard of being killed by a dragon? Or injured? How many, Arthur?”

“I don’t know, there’s enough. And they never get the right ones.”

“The right ones? How can there be right or wrong people to get injured by anything or anyone?” Merlin frowned. 

Arthur did, too. “Those lunatics from this organization! They always get away with anything!”

“The people of D.R.A.C.A. work very hard! They rescue the eggs and help the dragons!” Merlin didn’t even notice that he had started shivering. 

Snorting, Arthur scrambled up to lean against the headboard. “They work very hard on not getting arrested. And that’s exactly what should happen! They break in, they destroy things, they steal other people’s property!”

“Dragons are not anybody’s property! And those people do a wonderful job! I hope they will get recognized for it soon!”

“I hope someone will recognize them, so they can be locked up and punished for their crimes!”

“It is not a crime to stand in for what you believe in! And if they went out to rescue the itty bitty kitties, you wouldn’t speak like that!” Merlin closed his eyes and drew some forced breaths. He was so dumb. How could he believe that he could ever reveal his magic and his special ability to Arthur? He had to keep it a secret. A much better secret than ever before!

But instead of arguing more, Arthur started to chuckle. 

Irritated, Merlin turned his head to snarl at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Gosh, you’re adorable when you’re so fierce.” Arthur scooted closer and put his chin on Merlin’s shoulder.

“Go away, I don’t like you.”

Arthur put a little kiss on the naked skin before him. “Complete with the little pout.” He smiled. “You have no clue how hot you are when you’re fighting like this, do you? Even though the cause you’re arguing about is wrong and your arguments are more than wonky, you’d rather lose it all than to give an inch.”

That didn’t really convince Merlin to let it go. Arthur was just a narrow-minded clotpole when it came to dragons. 

“Really, you’re so hot that I’m all hard for you already.”

The husky voice and the hot breath ghosting over his skin were a lot more convincing. And when Arthur’s hand found its way under the blanket, Merlin decided that they could continue their argument some other time. He moaned when he felt Arthur’s hand around his prick and turned his head to kiss Arthur properly.

+++

Even though he still didn’t like that he had to lie to Arthur, Merlin was in a good mood when he entered the house. He still had time to check on Fr…Sunny in the basement, feed her, tend to her wound and make sure that she was happy before Arthur would come home. Then they could cook together and have a nice evening on the couch. 

But as soon as he entered, he already heard Arthur yell; and things break. Dropping his backpack, he rushed to the living room. 

“MERLIN!”

Merlin looked from Arthur, who was yelling full force, his face an angry red, to Fritzi, who fluttered above a heap of what looked like Arthur’s favorite CDs and DVDs. And was this the coin collection that had been handed down in Arthur’s family for generations, too? He was so shocked that he was rooted to the spot. It would have been better to confess to Arthur long ago. It would have been better not to take the little dragon home. Of course she would get bored and find a way out of her confinement in the basement! And of course she would look around the house and find things that she liked, which usually were silver or gold or at least shiny. She was a dragon and all dragons liked to hoard shiny things. She’d obviously found Arthur’s CDs collection. How she did it and how she managed to get them out their cases was beyond him. But it was clear that she was just defending her treasure while Arthur was trying to chase her away from it. 

“CALL PEST CONTROL!”

A quick side-glance made it clear that Arthur wasn’t harmed. A bit shell-shocked maybe, but Fritzi hadn’t taken to breathing fire on him. 

“Stop yelling, Arthur. Please stop yelling. You’ll only get her more worked up.” Merlin had his eyes fixed on the little dragon and slowly approached her, making soothing noises.

Arthur was about to yell something else, but when he saw Merlin slowly approaching the beast, he gasped. “What’s going on here, Merlin?”

“I’ll explain later. I have to make sure that she is alright.” Fritzi had settled on the CDs again but eyed Merlin reproachfully. “Have you hurt yourself? You know you shouldn’t wander about. Arthur means you no harm, he just didn’t expect you to be here.” 

“Merlin! I demand an explanation!”

Fritzi nuzzled his hand and then let him check her. Merlin sighed in relief when he found that she was okay. “Don’t ever do that again, hear me?” His tone of voice stayed gentle and by the way the dragon looked at him, he knew that she understood what he meant without him having to use dragon language. When she curled up, he slowly got up, but didn’t dare to move.

“So it’s true. You are one of those dragon people.”

Merlin took a deep breath and turned. There was no denying now. “Yes, Arthur. I am.” He knew this was the end of it, but it also felt liberating to finally come clean.

“You don’t even work at the zoo.” Arthur’s voice sounded flat.

“I do! It’s my job!” That part wasn’t a lie, even though more often than not, he was rushing away to help some dragon or other.

“You weren’t there when I wanted to have lunch with you. You never were there, were you?” Arthur sat down on the couch and looked at him. “And the ‘dead’ zebra was fine.”

Merlin cringed at the hurt in Arthur’s eyes. “I was. I go to the zoo and work there. But sometimes I get called away.”

“To deal with horrible monsters.”

“They are not horrible monsters. They are creatures just like all others. They need my help. I’m the only one who can help them.” Merlin didn’t move. He felt sick. This shouldn’t have been the way for Arthur to find out. Never like this. But harm was done now, there was nothing he could do. No more lying. 

“They are!” Arthur jumped up. “And that means you must be one of them magic folk, doing all kinds of magic tricks!”

“I am magic, Arthur. I don’t do tricks.”

“How long has this been going on?” Arthur clenched his teeth so hard, Merlin could hear them grinding together.

“Arthur, please.”

Arthur’s face turned into a mask of stone. “How long?”

No more lies. “I’ve always been magic. Even as a baby. It’s not something you choose, it’s something you are.”

“No, I’m not. But you are! This also explains why you were so stubborn about dragons the other day! And…,” Arthur glared at him, “you look just like that thief, that despicable being that breaks into laboratories and steals others’ property!”

Merlin said nothing. What was there to say? He was that person. He broke in and took the dragon eggs into his care. 

“Working with…what’s their name? DRACO?” Arthur spat the words out.

“D.R.A.C.A. – Dragon Rescue And Conservation Alliance. That’s me.” Merlin didn’t care if Arthur called the police now. No more lies!

Arthur had started pacing. “I don’t care what they are called! You are nothing but a liar and a thief! A criminal!”

“Arthur! Those creatures are just as worth rescuing that the polar bears and the whales you donate money for. And I’m the only one who can save them. I can talk to them. I can negotiate when there are run-ins with humans. They have to do what I tell them.”

Snorting, Arthur stopped and glared. “Now you’re trying to tell me that you’re some kind of dragon-chief!”

“A Dragonlord.” Merlin nodded and straightened up a bit, even though he felt the tears in his eyes. “The last one. There is nobody else but me.” He felt Fritzi pressing against his leg, but didn’t look down.

Arthur stepped closer. “You’re comfortable in your little world of lies, aren’t you? And you expect me to believe this?”

“It’s true.”

“Yeah, right. And what else is a lie? All the nights together, all the I-love-yous. Nothing but lies. Oh, it’s very clever to make the son of one of the country’s biggest anti-magic enforcers fall for you, so nobody would ever get the idea of you being the bad guy. This innocent act doesn’t fool me anymore. Out.”

“Arthur! That’s not true! I do love you! I would have told you before, but you didn’t want to listen!” Merlin swallowed hard. He knew he brought it upon himself. But he loved Arthur with all his heart.

Huffing, Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest. “If you ever loved me, you wouldn’t have betrayed me like that.” He checked his watch. “You have twenty minutes to pack your things and take your beloved creature with you before I call the police.”

+++

“I can’t watch this any longer, we need to do something.” Gwen whispered in the kitchen nook of the headquarters as she made sandwiches for them all.

Will just leaned against the counter and looked over to where Merlin once again had tried to call Arthur and then tossed his mobile on the couch. He’d hung up again, it seemed. “What do you have in mind?”

“We should go talk to Arthur. I mean, he hasn’t told the police yet that he knows Merlin’s real identity. He must still have feelings for him.”

Will huffed. “Arthur Pendragon doesn’t have feelings. He probably didn’t report Merlin yet because he fears of the negative publicity he’ll get.”

“That’s not true, Will, and you know it. He loved Merlin. And I can understand if he needs a bit of time to understand why Merlin didn’t tell him before.” Gwen cut some bell peppers and arranged them on a plate with tomatoes and pickles. 

“Yeah, a bit slow, that was the impression I got of him.”

“Will!” Gwen hissed and then looked over to where Merlin sat on the couch, looking lost, Fritzi’s head on his lap, which he was absent-mindedly petting. “He’s of no use like that, something has to happen.”

Merlin had stuffed a few of his things into a bag, grabbed Fritzi and had left Arthur’s house in a hurry, not looking back. If he did, he would have fallen apart. He could hardly see through the tears and Fritzi hadn’t even protested when he pressed her against him a bit too hard. 

Since that day, he camped out on the couch of the HQ and Fritzi hadn’t left his side. Once in a while, she sniffed the stubble on his face that slowly turned into a full-grown beard. 

Gwen insisted that Merlin eat something every now and then, but it only worked when Will reminded him of the next dragon eggs they might have to rescue and that he needed his strength in case Gwaine called and they needed to react immediately. Even the little dragon seemed to look at him with concern and didn’t even try to interfere when one of the others brought Merlin some soup or fruit. 

When he was done crying after a day, Merlin tried to call Arthur. First he left messages, then he just hung up. Arthur didn’t want to talk to him. 

Will had insisted Merlin switched his mobile off since it could be located when Arthur reported him to the police, the whole HQ and their complete mission was in danger. But Merlin just looked at him, waiting for a call from Arthur that never came. 

+++

Gwaine’s call had sounded very urgent. He’d insisted that they act right away. Merlin had dragged himself up from the couch and put his black hoodie on as he studied the floor plans Gwaine had sent. Gwen had asked him a hundred times if he really wanted to do it or if she should go in. She was smaller and could squeeze through holes in fences a lot easier than him. And she was known to get out of tricky situations just by using her wide-eyed look and innocent act. But Merlin had just shaken his head. 

It had been a lot easier to get into the building than to get out of the premises. He tried to listen to Gwen’s voice in his ear, but damn, he couldn’t see a thing out here. The bright lights that the security people had switched on the second the alarm went off had totally blinded him. Even before, he hadn’t seen a chance to get through the open area between the building and the fence without being seen. Now that it was brighter than daylight, his chances were slim to none. He already heard boots crushing on the gravel and dogs barking. He needed to get rid of the egg!

“Left, Merlin, Gwaine’s to your left, right outside the fence. Hurry!”

Merlin took a deep breath and left the cover of the bush he had been hiding behind. If he sprinted fast enough, he could at least hand the egg to Gwaine and the dragon was safe. 

The moment he stepped out onto the open grass area, he heard the security people yelling and he was sure that they’d unleashed the dogs. He ran and saw the silhouette of Gwaine waiting outside the fence. Gwaine motioned for him to hurry, but Merlin knew it was too late. They would get him. So he just tossed the egg over the fence, hoping Gwaine would catch it and just leave. 

“FREEZE!”

Usually Merlin wouldn’t have been impressed and just kept going, but he felt the breath of one of the huge guard dogs right behind him and when he saw that Gwaine had indeed caught the egg and vanished into the darkness on the other side, Merlin stopped and raised his hands over his head. 

 

+++

Sitting in his cell, Merlin knew he screwed up. If he had been a bit more concentrated, he wouldn’t have lost his orientation on the way out of the building. It had cost him valuable seconds to find the right way again. Enough time for the security people to move in. 

What happened between the moment he had seen Gwaine securing the dragon egg and him ending up here, was kind of blurry in Merlin’s memory. There had been guard dogs and yelling and of course the security guards hadn’t handled him too gently. So he had a black eye before he was even brought here by the police and the heavy door slammed shut behind him. 

How long ago that had been, he didn’t know. And he didn’t care. He had messed it all up, it was his own fault. His life was in pieces. He’d betrayed Arthur and lost him. He had screwed up this mission and brought everyone in danger. He knew he had just told them that he operated alone when he was questioned that one time, but he also knew that they didn’t believe him. Why had he needed an earpiece if he didn’t have someone to stay in contact with? He hoped that Gwen, Will and Gwaine had managed to hide somewhere. And that Fritzi hadn’t made too much of a fuss when they took her along. They would have taken her along, wouldn’t they? 

And what would happen to the egg? He needed to be there for it to hatch, he needed to call the dragon inside or else it wouldn’t hatch. Since he had already been in contact with the egg, the dragon inside knew he was around and would wait. What if it suffered the same fate than the one they got out of Vienna?

It was all his fault. 

The door opened and the guards came in. What did they want now? He was here for a day or two, so he sure wouldn’t have been able to have something illegal smuggled into his cell. But they handcuffed him – ridiculous, he wasn’t dangerous – and lead him to a room with a table and two chairs. Probably another interrogation. He wouldn’t say a word.

A tall man in a well-fitting suit and a briefcase entered. Merlin had been living with Arthur long enough to know a tailor-made suit when he saw one. And they were accompanied by a pair of fine leather shoes. Probably hand-made, too. A lawyer.

“Merlin Emrys?”

Merlin looked into a friendly face that was framed by wild curls and a hint of stubble. And who else would he be but Merlin Emrys, public enemy number one?

“Leon Knight.” Merlin just looked at the outstretched hand. “I’m your lawyer.”

Of course Merlin had heard of Leon Knight before. The lawyer who only took the most difficult cases, the one who got murderers free. The lawyer with the highest rates in all of Great Britain. 

Raising a questioning eyebrow, Merlin shook his head. “I haven’t called a lawyer.”

“I am your lawyer, Mr. Emrys.” 

“I can’t afford you.”

“Don’t worry about that, it’s all been taken care of.” The tall man sat down. “And now tell me exactly what happened.”

Merlin snorted. “You’ve most likely heard everything about it already. I went in, took the egg and tried to leave, which failed. Now I’m here.”

“And the egg?”

“Is not here.”

Chuckling, the man sat down. “I like you, Mr. Emrys, but you need to give me something to work with.”

Merlin reluctantly started to tell him about D.R.A.C.A. and that a friend invented the cool name but it was basically just him rescuing the eggs and helping the dragons hatch. If the reveal of his magic and his nature as Dragon Lord surprised the lawyer, he didn’t show it. 

Talking to him got easier the longer it took. Leon, as he insisted Merlin to call him, didn’t comment, he didn’t judge and Merlin liked that. There was no ‘Oh my God, evil dragons’ and no ‘you dirty liar’. If he said anything at all, it was gentle questions about things he hoped he could build the defense around. 

Even though he had no criminal record, Merlin knew he wouldn’t get out of this with a slap on the wrist and some community work. But maybe he wouldn’t have to rot here forever if Leon found the right strategy.

When he was returned to his cell, Merlin wasn’t sure if it had been the right thing to talk about all these things. Leon was a stranger. What if he wasn’t the good guy who was trying to help him? What if he didn’t want to get him out of jail at all? And who was paying for his time? That could influence how he would go about the case, couldn’t it? Merlin doubted that the others had been able to cough up so much money. 

And why did he care about all this at all? His only responsibility was to get back to the dragons, to help them. He didn’t care about himself at all. If it weren’t for the dragons, he wouldn’t have a purpose in life anymore, now that Arthur was gone. And even that was his own fault. 

Merlin didn’t look up when they brought him his dinner and just curled up on the hard bed, hugging himself, letting the tears fall that he had tried hard to keep inside while he was still at the HQ. 

Gwen had meant well, telling him that Arthur would come to his senses soon. But why would he? He was right to call him a liar and toss him out. He had brought it upon himself; he didn’t deserve someone like Arthur. He had taken him for granted, had lied and snuck away. Now it was too late.

+++

Merlin didn’t know how many days had passed since Leon had been here last. He probably should have started counting the meals they brought him – none of which he ever touched – to get a basic idea of how time had moved, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Most of the time, he was still curled up on the bed. The tears had stopped falling, but with each passing minute, Merlin felt more hopeless. 

The door opened. 

“Put your shoes on, Emrys.”

Blinking groggily, Merlin didn’t even question that and just sat up and did what he was told. He let the guards lead him out of the cell and down the corridor, too tired and worn out to even inquire where they were bringing him. It was probably just another interrogation. Or maybe Leon was back. Or they would just shoot him right there and then, the evil magic user and dragon bloke. He didn’t care.

They opened a door to an interview room and Merlin entered. His hunch had been right, Leon was there with another man in a suit who looked a lot like police and who immediately started talking. Merlin threw Leon a thankful look when he was able to convince the police person and the guards to take the handcuffs off. 

He didn’t even listen when the police guy started explaining something to him. 

“Merlin, this is your chance.”

Merlin blinked at Leon. 

“Merlin, do you understand what Inspector du Lac just offered?” He looked intensely at Merlin.

Blinking again, Merlin knew he had to get his act together and at least listen. Since every word he said in the presence of police could be used against him, he needed to be careful. “Sorry?”

The inspector leaned forward. “Mr. Emrys, there have been a couple of incidents with large beasts in Wales.”

“Dragons?”

“We believe so.” The expression on the inspector’s face made it clear that he wasn’t one of the believers. 

“What kind of incidents?” He hadn’t been gone for too long, right? Maybe Gwaine and Gwen could have talked to the dragons? If they were some they had worked with before, it might work, even though they both didn’t know the old language. 

“A hiker was attacked and later a house on the outskirts of a town burnt down.”

That could mean anything or nothing. “The hiker?” 

“Is okay now.”

“What did he say?” To judge if this was really a dragon incident, Merlin needed more information. 

Inspector du Lac opened a manila folder. “That it was a beast unlike any he’d ever seen. He talked about green-purplish scales and a huge yellow eye.”

Merlin nodded. 

“It looks like that does ring a bell for you, Mr. Emrys.”

Exchanging a look with Leon, who nodded in encouragement, Merlin took a deep breath. “Sounds like a Welsh Wanderer to me. They’re a bit odd to look at, but harmless.”

“The man said it tried to chase him.”

Chuckling drily, Merlin leaned back a bit in his chair. “They would do that. They’re very curious.” It had been a while since he’d last seen a Wanderer.

“So you admit that they are a danger to society?”

“No. They are not. They are just nosy. Their diet is vegetarian, they would never attack a human.”

The inspector gave him a long look. “Mr. Emrys, you’re trying to tell me that you know about these…creatures?”

“I think I just did. And even though the Wanderers might look a bit scary, they wouldn’t do any harm to anybody. Their numbers are decreasing the way it is, leave them alone.” Merlin was close to jumping up, but Leon took a deep breath and Merlin threw him another look. He needed to stay calm, he understood that. But if someone called a harmless creature like the Wanderers dangerous, they clearly didn’t know what they were talking about.

“Turned out they didn’t leave the town alone. At least two of them attacked a house and burnt it down.”

Merlin huffed. “They can’t even breathe fire.”

Looking something up in his file, the inspector continued. “There were footprints that matched.”

“What do you know exactly about the creatures that ‘attacked a house’? Why would a dragon attack a house? What kind of threat would a house pose to a dragon so it has to attack?”

Leon shifted in his chair and adjusted the sleeve of his jacket, but Merlin understood the gesture and forced himself to calm down. 

“I see you are very passionate about these creatures, Mr. Emrys.”

“Who else but me…” The longer the inspector was there, the clearer it became to Merlin that he had to stop his self-pitying and get out of jail. These were the kind of incidents D.R.A.C.A. investigated, where he was able to talk to the dragons before something happened. He was needed out there. 

“So you’re saying it wasn’t dragons that set the house on fire?” The look on du Lac’s face was a lot more curious than before. 

Merlin sniffed. “I’m just saying that it definitely wasn’t Wanderers. To decide if dragons breathed fire on something, I would have to see the site myself.”

Leon spoke up. “I understand that this is what you wanted from my client.”

Throwing Leon a surprised look, Merlin wondered what this was all about. He had assumed that this questioning was to find out if he really knew anything about dragons at all. What was Leon hinting at, now?

Du Lac got up. “To be honest, Mr. Emrys, I don’t believe in magical creatures.”

“But they are…” Merlin closed his mouth again when he felt Leon’s hand on his arm.

“But there have been incidents and we got information that you are the only one who can stop this.”

When Leon didn’t say anything, Merlin decided to stay quiet, too. 

“It’s taken a lot of paperwork but we found a judge who is willing to let us bring you there.”

+++

Merlin stared at Leon when Inspector Du Lac had left the room and given them a few minutes to talk this through.

“This is what we need, Merlin.” 

“Did he just offer to let me go to Wales to talk to the dragons? And then I’ll walk free?”

Leon got up. “It’s not that easy, Merlin. They want these attacks to end. They think you’re the only one who can end them, otherwise they wouldn’t have moved heaven and hell to get those papers.”

“And when I agree…,” Merlin couldn’t believe it. The dragons might have given him a way for everyone to see that he wasn’t a fraud. That he could indeed talk to them and that they bowed to his will. That he was valuable and needed and that magic wasn’t evil. 

“When you agree, Merlin…if you succeed, you could give the creatures the platform you always dreamed of. You could rise awareness for the issue of protecting them in this trial.”

There was no question for Merlin now if he would do it. Of course he would. “But I would still go back to jail.”

“Merlin,” Leon came over and leaned forward, one hand on the table, one on the back of a chair, “if you can pull this off, I’ll work on getting you out on bail. If you plead guilty concerning the break-in charges.” 

Nodding, Merlin felt some of his usual energy come back to him. “I’ll do it. Help the dragons. We’ll talk about breaking and entering later.”

+++

Trying to rub the soot off his sleeve, Merlin watched the Horntail retreat to the woods. It hadn’t been too difficult to find the young female, she had unfortunately built her nest in a little forest close to the town and now that she was busy taking care of her brood, playing children and hikers had come too close for her liking. 

Mistaking Merlin for another intruder, she had defended hers by breathing fire. Merlin had almost chuckled when he saw the astonished look on her face when he deflected the flames to the collective gasps of the police, the firefighters and the press that built his entourage. Of course they couldn’t let him get away and since they didn’t trust his abilities, they had brought the fire brigade, which the press had gotten wind of. Merlin was sure that all of England would see a photo of him shielding himself from her fire with his magic on TV before the coppers had even taken him back to prison. 

“She wants to be left alone,” he told the local officials. “Tell hikers to stay out of that part of the woods, she’s got dragonlings and that was the only reason why she defended herself and them.”

“It burnt down a house!”

Merlin shook his head. “That wasn’t her. She said that burnt long before she even came close that day and that she only ever came here because the people living there grow such tasty vegetables.” He had to hold back a grin. 

Inspector du Lac nodded. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, basically. Leave her alone and she will leave you alone. And don’t freak if some of your salad or cauliflower is missing from your garden.”

They passed a couple of cars on the way to the inspector’s vehicle but Merlin didn’t pay attention to them. He was busy answering the questions about the old language and telling the policeman yet again that he was indeed a Dragonlord and if the Horntail hadn’t agreed, he could have made her bow to his wishes. Which fortunately hadn’t been necessary. 

At the car, Leon said his good-bye, nodding at Merlin and smiling encouragingly at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Exhausted, Merlin slumped into the back seat of the police car. He didn’t care that they brought him back to his cell. He had done his job and hopefully that was enough to convince the judge that he wasn’t a criminal or a fraud.

+++

“Are you ready, Merlin?”

Merlin tugged at the collar of his shirt, but nodded. He wasn’t used to wearing a suit and didn’t feel comfortable in it. Then again, he wouldn’t feel comfortable in anything else either. This was the day, if anything went wrong today, they would lock him up for years to come. He needed to be at his best, the dragons needed him. So he just nodded at Leon and let him accompany him to court. 

After he had shown his abilities in Wales that night, Leon had managed to convince the judge to set bail. Even though it had been set at a ridiculously high amount, it had been paid right away. Merlin didn’t know by whom. But he hadn’t asked either since Leon still hadn’t revealed who had paid him in the first place. 

And now he was way too nervous to give much thought to that as Leon, who looked kind of funny in his gown and wig, shoved him into his seat. They had rehearsed this situation. Merlin knew what to say and how to react when questioned by the prosecutor. 

Most of the trial just washed over Merlin. He listened closely to everything that was said, but immediately forgot it again, just waiting to be called to the witness stand. 

Before that could happen, the prosecutor accused him of all kinds of things. Being called a liar was the least of it. It was true. Merlin had lied a lot to be able to protect the dragons. But when the man started a long rant about how there were no such things as Dragonlords and that nobody could talk to them beasts, Merlin started to shift in his chair. 

Leon intervened, pointing out the night in Wales – and that the house fire was actually caused by a technical fault - and they brought in footage. Merlin hadn’t seen it before, he had never seen himself on a screen, talking to a dragon, using his magic and had to admit that it looked pretty impressive. 

Merlin tried not to glare when the prosecutor talked about this being a fake and that nobody could talk to dragons or make them hatch. 

Once again, Leon jumped in, and asked for permission to talk to the judge. Merlin didn’t know what he was up to. They hadn’t talked about this part. He gasped when Gwen came in, bringing the egg he had stolen last, nestled on a soft pillow. Not Gwen! Go, leave! You can’t be here! What if they’ll get you, too? But by the way Leon was looking at her, it became clear to Merlin that he already knew all the members of D.R.A.C.A.

When the commotion in the room had died down, the judge spoke to him directly. “Mr. Emrys. Would you mind showing us what you can do?”

The prosecutor tried to object, yelling that this was no circus and some simple tricks wouldn’t get Merlin out of this.

“What better evidence would there be than Mr. Emrys making the dragon hatch?” The judge looked over the rim of his glasses. “And if this is just a simple chicken egg, he should be able to tell us so or else he reveals himself as a fraud.”

Merlin wasn’t happy. This wasn’t an environment into which a dragon should be born. And he indeed wasn’t a circus act himself. But maybe this could help the dragons. He had proven before that he could do it, but if the judge needed to see with his own eyes that there were dragons and that he could command them, it might help the cause. 

So he got up slowly, touched his fingers to the shell and whispered in the old language. “Justice, we’re waiting for you.” 

He stepped back and felt all the eyes in the room turned on him and the egg. Slowly, a crack showed in the shell and with a bit of a grunt, a little white dragon showed, looking about a bit confused. 

The room was stunned into silence but Merlin didn’t even notice. He just smiled at the dragon and watched it test its little wings. It flapped about a bit before it took off and looked curiously at the room and then settled down on Merlin’s shoulder. 

The judge cleared his throat. “Well, that was…interesting.” Commotion in the room started again, people could be heard whispering and exclaiming their astonishment about what they’d just witnessed.

Leon nodded at Merlin. “I knew you could do it.”

Merlin smiled. “It was time for him to hatch. It…”

The little white dragon hopped onto the table and padded over to Leon, looking at him curiously. 

“I think he wants you to pet him.” Merlin encouraged. He knew he was in the middle of a trial that would decide his fate. But the marvel of a new-born dragon made everything else fade into insignificance.

Carefully, Leon held out a hand and then tried to pet the dragon, which gave happy little sounds at the skritches and curled up on top of a pile of papers. 

“QUIET!”

“Your honour!” A well-known voice could be heard from the back of the room. “May I step up to the bench?”

“And who would you be?”

Merlin’s heart was beating up in his throat. This couldn’t be!

“I’m Arthur Pendragon, your honor, and if you could spare a few minutes for me…”

What the hell was he doing here? Arthur had made it very clear that he was through with him. Why would he show up at his trial? To see him go down? To make things even worse?

“We will interrupt for lunch break now. Someone take care of the creature,” the judge sent Merlin a look, “we will be back at 1:30.”

 

+++

 

Merlin followed Leon to an adjacent room, the little dragon in his arms. What did all of that mean? Where had Arthur come from all of a sudden? What was he doing here? And why was he talking to the judge right now? 

Arthur. Merlin had tried hard not to think about him too often in the past weeks. Of course being alone in his cell and then later at the hotel room which was way too luxurious for his liking, had left him with a lot of time to think. Even though he had worried about the dragons, his thoughts had wandered to Arthur all the time. What was he doing? Would he ever be able to forgive him? Or was he already over him and had moved on, already found someone new?

Merlin knew he missed him terribly. He knew it was his own fault for lying to Arthur; he would understand if Arthur never wanted to talk to him again. And he knew that this part of his life was over. He would never get over Arthur, would never be able to just move on. There would never be another Arthur.

That he showed up here confused him totally, but he didn’t have time to linger on his thoughts. 

Gwen burst into the room and hugged him so hard that it took his breath away. “Gwen,” he murmured, alarmed. 

“They know anyway, Merlin. They know about us.”

Merlin’s stomach sank. “Are you alright?”

She reached out a hand and cupped his cheek. “Are _we_ alright? Merlin, this is about you. How are you? You’ve lost weight again, you’re way too thin.”

He couldn’t help the little sad smile on his face. Sometimes Gwen reminded him so much of his mother. He half expected her to dish out a huge plate of sandwiches and cookies. 

“How are Will and Gwaine? How are the dragons?”

“Don’t worry about us. The dragons are a bit irritated and Fritzi is moping, but everyone’s okay.”

“How could you…” Merlin made a little gesture with his head towards Leon, who busied himself with some papers, pretending he wouldn’t listen in on their conversation.

Gwen just looked at him with wide eyes. “Oh Merlin, you…you really don’t have an idea, do you?”

“I…just…it’s so much money.”

Just that moment, a court usher came in. “The judge will be back in two minutes. Please take your seats.”

Leon nodded, closed his files and got up. “It’s time, Merlin.”

Gwen put a little kiss on Merlin’s cheek and then vanished through the other door. 

Scooping up the white little dragon in his arms, Merlin followed Leon outside. The little time he had, walking from the door to his seat, he tried to make out Arthur in the crowd, but couldn’t find him. 

His heart was beating so loud that he feared everyone in the room would hear it. This was the moment. The moment that would decide if he could keep on working with the dragons or if they would be lost. Even though he tried to follow, most of what was being said just washed over him, lost in law babble.

He stood on weak knees when the judge addressed him and he heard ‘suspended sentence’ and ‘2 years for breaking and entering and theft’. What did that mean now? Did he have to spend two years in prison for breaking in and retrieving the eggs? And then his sentence would be suspended?

The blood was rushing in his ears when the judge went on explaining. He just heard something about a sanctuary and that he was to work there since his talents were needed there.

“And you better take good care of them, young man.” With that, the judge used his little hammer and declared the session closed. 

Merlin sank down into his seat again. White Justice, who had wandered across their table all the time, looking curiously at things and people, turned back to him and watched. 

“Congratulations.” Leon started to pack his briefcase. “Do you want to take the little one somewhere? You can hardly take him to the hotel.”

Slowly, Merlin woke from his stupor and looked up at Leon. “Does that mean…?”

“You can go. We’ve won.”

“Won?”

Leon pulled him up from his chair and over to the room they had waited for the judge’s return in and started to explain the verdict as he pulled the wig off his head and got out of his gown. 

Merlin couldn’t believe it. “But…how?” 

“Two years, Merlin. You will have to be on your best behavior for two years. No breaking in, no stealing, not even getting associated with any of those things. None of your friends will be able to ‘acquire’ eggs the way you used to.”

“But we need to…”

“No, what you need is to get your crap together.” Leon ran a hand through his curls and looked a lot more like himself again. 

“But the dragons need me.”

“You didn’t hear a word that was said, did you?” Leon pushed Merlin into a chair and sat down on the edge of the table, looking at him. 

“Not really,” Merlin admitted, trying not to look as dumb as he felt.

“There’s this new dragon sanctuary that’s about to be built. You will have to work there for the next two years at least.”

Merlin’s head shot up. “Dragon sanctuary? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” But that had been his dream. A place where they could keep the dragons, where they could heal them, raise them and educate people about them; a place where dragons could live in peace in their natural habitat. 

“That’s because it’s only in its very early planning stages. And since you are the expert in that field, they need you there.” 

The look Leon threw him was so intense that Merlin had the feeling he was missing something. “But…who?”

Leon almost chuckled out a sigh as he got up and took his things. “The same person who bailed you out, the same one who pays for my services, the one who is most likely waiting for you outside to discuss the details of the deal. Give me a call when you’re ready, I can take you out of the building so the press won’t see you.”

Merlin just nodded. A dragon sanctuary, a Reserve, a place for all of them, that was fantastic, but…

As the door opened again, Merlin squared his shoulders and got up, only to be reduced to staring. 

Arthur.

+++

“Hello Merlin.”

Merlin couldn’t say anything. Here he was again. After weeks and weeks of just thinking of him, pining over him, mourning his loss, Arthur was in the same room for the second time in one day. And slowly it dawned on him. 

“You…”

Arthur nodded. “Me, yes.”

“You’re the one who…” Did that mean that Arthur had changed his mind? That he started liking dragons and wanted to do something for them? That he finally understood that magic wasn’t evil and that magical creatures had every right to exist?

“Merlin, I…,” Arthur cleared his throat. “It’s good to see that you are okay.”

“What’s this all about?”

“Leon might already have explained it to you. There will be a reserve for the dragons, it’s just about to be built. They need you in their team to get the plans right. As the judge said, you will be the consultant and dragon expert for the next two years.”

“And you’re the one funding it.”

Arthur swallowed and then just looked at Merlin.

“Like…like you hired Leon to get me through this.” It all fit together so well. Of everyone Merlin knew, Arthur was the only one with enough money to do something like that and not even blink. 

“Yes, Merlin. Don’t worry about the financial side.” The way Arthur adjusted his tie showed Merlin how nervous he was. 

“Arthur…” There was so much Merlin wanted to say. He needed to tell Arthur how sorry he was about lying to him, about betraying him, that he wanted to tell him long before but had never really found the right moment. But all he could say was “Why?”

Starting to pace, Arthur didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath. “I was there, in Wales. I witnessed what you can do and realized that you were right; you might be the only person on this planet who is able to prevent a species from going extinct. And there are already too many species vanishing from this planet each day. The reserve seemed to be the only logical solution.”

Something inside Merlin melted. He wanted to run over and wrap his arms around Arthur and kiss him senseless. But of course he couldn’t do that. Arthur was generous enough to fund this project. That was all he was offering and it was already more than Merlin would usually have accepted. But it seemed Arthur had worked this out with the judge and it was part of his punishment. Only that it wasn’t punishment at all, it was a dream come true. 

“And how will we get new eggs? D.R.A.C.A. can’t operate anymore, I bet everyone is under surveillance.”

“D.R.A.C.A. can be included in the project, you can work the details out with Leon and the people already working on it. A campaign to prohibit the possession of dragon eggs is being launched and we’ll be working on passing it as a law.”

Merlin swallowed hard. So Arthur had changed his mind. He even had thought it all through and tried to help D.R.A.C.A. out of illegality. Merlin didn’t know what to say.

“Thank you.”

Arthur just nodded, threw the little dragon that had eyed him with interest, a look and then turned and left the room.

+++

Almost two years later

Merlin had thrown himself into his new work as soon as he was out of the court building. He met the team that were already working on the blueprints, helped making adjustments, changing areas to meet the dragons’ needs. 

Gwen and Gwaine had taken the job offers right away and were valuable team members. Will had been very reluctant, claiming that he couldn’t just leave a life of crime behind, but now he was happy with his new job. 

Once in a while, Leon showed up. First, it was all about legal stuff, things about Merlin’s sentence and stuff that concerned the preserve, later because he ‘needed’ to check on White Justice and then to just hang out and help when the first dragons were being brought in. 

Merlin was happy. This was what he had worked towards all of his life. The government still hadn’t passed the law that prohibited the possession of dragons and dragon eggs, but awareness for the subject was raised and sometimes companies gave up their dragon eggs and donated them to the reserve or employees just took them out and handed them over. No judge had ever ruled that the dragonlings had to be returned to the companies. So they were on the right track.

The first time Merlin had seen Arthur again after that day in court, had been the grand opening of the sanctuary. As much as he had tried to shove that part of his life away, it all came crashing back when he saw Arthur. There was just no way he would ever get over him. And it was his own fault that he wasn’t part of his life any longer. Or rather, just not in the way Merlin would have loved. 

Arthur had been interested in everything, had asked to be shown around, asked questions Merlin knew he already knew the answers to and hadn’t even flinched when they had encountered Fritzi – Merlin had given up calling her Sun long ago – in his office. Fritzi had taken to sit on a shelf and watch Arthur from up there. 

Merlin’s heart had been beating wildly all the time of Arthur’s stay and Gwen had put a soothing hand on his back when disappointment had hit as they stood watching Arthur’s car leave. 

But just as Leon showed up more often, Arthur had come back. Sometimes as part of announced and official visits, but most of the time, he just showed up in jeans and t-shirt, ready to do any job that was appointed to him. 

So Merlin ran into him at the boxes where he dragged huge bundles of freshly cut grass about that was meant for the vegetarians. 

“Hi.”

Arthur spit out a blade of grass that had found its way between his lips. “Hey.”

“What are you…here, let me help you with that.” Merlin reached for the bundle.

Shaking his head, Arthur smiled carefully. “I got it, thanks. I thought I should know what I’m talking about when I go and try getting people’s money for this.”

“Okay.” Merlin didn’t know what to say. He still felt odd around Arthur. There was so much left unsaid between them and his feelings still ran wild whenever he just got a glimpse of the blond hair and the blue eyes. His magic tried to reach out to touch Arthur, to pull him close, but Merlin always resisted the urge to make contact. 

Arthur dropped the grass in one of the boxes. “Merlin…”

Merlin just watched with beating heart. 

“I’m sorry.”

Before, Merlin would have been astonished to hear Arthur apologize for anything. It just wasn’t an Arthur-thing to do. But Arthur had changed in the past two years and Merlin didn’t know what to make of this. 

“I want to be honest with you.”

Ouch. That hurt. He, Merlin, hadn’t been honest with Arthur. And now Arthur would get back to him for that. 

“I’m missing you, Merlin. When that first fit of anger was through, I thought I would get over it. That it was for the best and that we were better apart. But I just can’t. It broke me to see your picture on TV when they arrested you. Where I thought I should think ‘Oh good, look, the traitor got what he deserved. Now that bunch of terrorists will be eliminated’, all I could think about was how bad you looked, how skinny you had gotten, how dark the circles underneath your eyes were. And of course, Leon did not only report back to me what progress he had made, how he would go about the defense, he also told me that you were losing it and all I did was worry.”

Merlin took a deep breath, but Arthur held up a hand.

“Hear me out. If I stop now, I might not be able to ever say these words again. I was always so proud of my heritage and my upbringing, the money I inherited and the money I made. I noticed that it meant nothing without you around. And I have never been prouder than that moment you dealt with that dragon in Wales. I was worried that it…she would hurt you. But then I saw you using your magic and realized how powerful you really are. Gosh, Merlin, you have no idea how much I wanted to rush out of that car and wrap my arms around you and beg your forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness?” Merlin had listened, but if someone had to forgive anything it was Arthur. “I need to beg yours. I lied to you for years, hiding my magic and my true nature. But I had to do it, I needed to or else I couldn’t help my kind.” He swallowed hard. 

“It took me a while to get over that, I admit. But I understand why you did it, why you had to. I was so stubborn in my views about dragons and magic. I could blame my father for that, but…I guess I’m just a…clotpole?” Arthur tried a wry smile.

Merlin chuckled. “You can be. Just like I’m an idiot. I’m sorry, Arthur, so sorry for doing that to you.”

“If we weren’t so stupid, we could have had this here,” Arthur gestured to the building around them, “ a lot earlier. Without the fuss of jail and court and all that.”

Nodding, Merlin tried to blink back the tears. They had wasted so much time. “Friends?” He held out his hand.

Arthur took it and pulled him close, wrapping his arms around him, burying his face in Merlin’s neck. “I want so much more, Merlin. I’m missing you so bad that it hurts. But if ‘friends’ is all I can get, I’ll take that.”

Even swallowing hard and blinking real fast couldn’t keep the tears from falling. Merlin didn’t know what to say. He had missed Arthur just as badly, feeling like he cut a part of himself off by pretending he didn’t. “Missed you, too.”

They stood like that for a long time.

+++

 

Gwen grinned widely. “He should be in his office,” she told Arthur.

“Thanks, Gwen.” Arthur smiled but seemed to be a bit nervous. “You look lovely today.”

She giggled and plucked some hay off her t-shirt. “Go, charm him, not me!”

Arthur winked at her. As he turned to go to the office, he added “Leon says hi and that he’ll be here by five.”

Merlin grinned when he hear that exchange through the open door. With time, it had become clear that Leon didn’t just show up to pet the dragons. It was only a matter of time before he finally asked Gwen out and Merlin knew she would say yes.

Looking up from his screen, he saw Arthur standing in the doorway.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure, I’m done here anyway.” Merlin got up and watched as Arthur walked in and pretended to look at the books on the shelf. “Wanna get a coffee from the cafeteria?”

Arthur stopped about two steps away from Fritzi’s nest in the corner. They hadn’t managed to release her back into the wild. She would stay with the other dragons for an hour or sometimes even for an afternoon, but as soon as Merlin was back, she wanted to be close again. So she had become the office dragon and helped Merlin with the tours, especially when they got school classes. 

“I’ve been thinking.”

“About coffee? Great, let’s go then, or do you want to bring it here?”

“About us, Merlin.”

Us. Arthur still thought there was an ‘us’, that was good, wasn’t it? That day at the boxes, Merlin had been totally confused. Arthur had said he wanted to be friends, but they had clung to each other for a good while. But then they had said good-bye for the night and even though they hadn’t talked about it again, Arthur had come over more often and spend a lot of his spare time with him. They talked and tried to be friends, but Merlin wasn’t sure it would work out.

“I can’t go on like this. I want more than being friends.” Arthur still looked at Fritzi for a moment before he turned. 

“I…Arthur…” Merlin gaped. 

Arthur’s shoulders slumped for a split second, before he squared them. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

“No, Arthur, don’t go. I…it’s just all a bit…don’t you think it’s complicated?”

“Yes, but only because we made it complicated. I want it to be like before.”

“We’re not the same people anymore, Arthur. I lie awake nights, missing you. I’m overjoyed when you are here and I’m sad when you leave. But going back to like we were before…” That wouldn’t work. 

Arthur took a step forward. “Okay, maybe not exactly like before. But I want you in my life. I need you around. I’m not me when you aren’t there. The house is so empty without you.”

“The house is so far away from here and sometimes I need to come out here in the middle of the night. But…” Merlin knew he was babbling. He wasn’t even sure what he was about to say.

Closing his eyes, Arthur exhaled audibly. “Screw the details, Merlin. The house is just a house. There are other houses. I just want you back.” He looked up and Merlin thought he’d never seen him so open, so vulnerable.

In an instant, he had wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck. “I’m right here.” Merlin buried his face in Arthur’s neck, inhaling the familiar scent. “I want this to work. I need you. I’m only half a man without you.”

+++

Merlin’s co-workers and friends all smiled fondly when he and Arthur started dating again. Arthur would find a house much closer to the reserve, so they could spend the night away from dragons and work once in a while.

One day, he showed up and just shoved a bunch of keys into Merlin’s hand.

“What is this?” Merlin looked at them and then at Arthur.

“Garage, front door, back door, mail box and this little remote opens the front gate.”

Merlin blinked. “You’re giving me the keys to your house?”

“I hoped it would be our house. Your place here is too small for both of us to live in. You could keep it for emergencies, when you are too tired to drive back or you need to stay for something or other. So…what do you say?”

His heart was beating wildly as Merlin looked at the keys again. Their dating had gone great lately and they were very close again and now Arthur asked him to move in with him, again. 

“I…you know that I come with baggage.” His eyes wandered over to Fritzi, who was following their every move closely.

“How big will it get?”

“She, you know it’s a she, Arthur.”

“Okay, how big will she get?”

Merlin chuckled. “She’s already two years old.”

“You said that some of them get really huge after being little for the first few years.” Arthur squatted down and held his hand out to the little orange dragon. “And that some don’t get taller than an average dog.”

“Oh, so you do listen once in a while.” Merlin tried to bite back an amused smile.

“I’ve heard you talk to the visitors so often that I could do the tours myself.” Arthur eyed Fritzi, who seemed to copy the look and eyed him right back. “What species does she belong to?”

“I think she’s already fully grown.”

“Can you take her to work every day?” Arthur looked up at Merlin and Fritzi took the moment to climb out of her nest and pad over, tilting her head as she sat down in front of Arthur.

“You saw her photo on the ‘Employee of the month’ wall. She’s so attached to me that we can’t set her free, she’ll always come back anyway.” Merlin sighed, he knew that could become a problem should he ever be forced to stay away for longer periods of time. “But you know that already.”

“You can talk to her, too, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve heard me do it before.” What was Arthur up to?

Arthur carefully held his hand out to Fritzi. “Do you think you can behave inside a house? And not flutter about to make a mess of everything?”

Watching as Fritzi touched her nose against Arthur’s hand and then let out little puffs of smoke like she always did when she was content with something, Merlin’s jaw dropped. “You’re saying…?”

“As long as she promises not to sit on and scratch my precious CDs,” Arthur looked up, “we could give it a try?”

Merlin pulled Arthur up and threw his arms around him. “I knew there was a reason why I loved you.”

Chewing on his lower lip, Arthur looked at Merlin. “You do? That would be very convenient, since I love you, too.”

Chuckling, Merlin pulled Arthur in for a kiss.


End file.
